Syria: Another Protest, Another Crackdown In Aleppo

Free Syrian Army members from the al-Faruq Brigade arrive to attend the funeral of one of their comrades at the Khaled Ibn al-Walid mosque in the al-Khalidiyah neighbourhood of the central Syrian city of Homs on Thursday.

Joseph Eid
/ AFP/Getty Images

Originally published on May 4, 2012 10:35 am

A day after the security forces of President Bashar Assad raided the campus of Aleppo University, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Syria's second city and its economic powerhouse.

The AP talked to Mohammed Saeed, an activist, who said protesters were "incensed" by the raid at the university, which killed four.

"Everyone wants to express solidarity with those students," the activist told the AP, adding that the forces fired live ammunition into the crowd.

The AP adds:

"The raid at Aleppo University was an unusually violent incident for the city, a major economic hub that has remained largely loyal to Assad over the course of the 14-month uprising.

"Anti-government protests there have been on the rise, and university students — many from rebellious areas such as the northern Idlib province — have been staging almost daily demonstrations.

"'This is what prompted this extremely brutal attack by the government ... this is proof that the regime has started to worry about Aleppo rising up,' said Omar Idilbi, a member of the Syrian National Council opposition group."